Google map service covers lunar surface

Thirty-six years to the day since Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon, Google Inc. extended its mapping service to cover the lunar surface.

Google Moon won't give you driving directions or the nearest restaurants, the types of information available with Google Maps and Google Earth. But the lunar tool lets you zoom and move around — to the extent NASA has provided images for those areas.

The feature debuting Wednesday at http://moon.google.com/ also shows the locations of all six Apollo moon landings. Click on one to get the date and astronauts involved.

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Google jokes that by July 20, 2069 — the 100th anniversary — the company will integrate its local search product with Google Moon, so users can find out about lunar businesses and other moon-related information.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

It also says it is opening a lunar research center by 2007, though applicants must be "capable of surviving with limited access to such modern conveniences as soy low-fat lattes, The Sopranos and a steady supply of oxygen."

And if you still don't believe engineers have a sense of humor, try zooming in all the way. You'll discover that the moon, indeed, is made of cheese.